Public concerns about food safety are growing as the nation's regulator was found to have failed to effectively crack down on harmful and substandard food products. The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) is now blamed for not enforcing stricter guidelines to prevent the circulation of products containing germs and heavy metals. What's worse is that the watchdog has not yet set legal limits on harmful substances in widely consumed items.
Especially, the regulator faces mounting criticism for sitting on its hands even when imported health supplements were reported to have contained excessive amounts of heavy metals. According to a KFDA report submitted to Rep. Chang Bok-sim of the pro-government United New Democratic Party on Friday, bacteria were detected in 42,200 kilograms of pickled fish products. And 599 kilograms of five health supplement imports were sold despite the impermissible level of heavy metals.
Much to the dismay of consumers, some U.S.-made health products were found to contain cadmium seven times higher than the recommended level. And aluminum was detected in 21 confectionary brands and nine instant noodle products. Korean authorities sent back only 10,125 kg of four Chinese products, while the remaining 82,528 kg were sold.
Consumers cannot understand how aluminum, a substance suspected of causing Alzheimer's disease, was found in such mass-consumed items. In one case, 215.9 parts per million (ppm) of the metal was discovered. The amount is 4.3 times higher than the allowable limit of 50 ppm. The substandard confectionary products included six from China, three each from the U.S., Japan and Indonesia, and two each from Belgium and the Philippines.
Consumers were surprised to know that eight Chinese noodle products from China and one from Vietnam were distributed on the market although they contained high levels of aluminum. In addition, 94 of 654 surveyed bread products were found to have excessive levels of trans fats. The affected products included 64 from the U.S., 13 from Japan, seven from Korea, three each from Italy and Argentina, two from China, and one each from Vietnam and Canada.
Consumer rights activists called on the KFDA to come up with stricter measures to ban the production of harmful foods and prevent local distributors from importing substandard food products. They reminded the regulator that the U.S. and other countries were recently angered at harmful Chinese food products and toys. The activist urged the government to introduce legally-binding safety guidelines to protect consumers.
Rep. Chang, a member of the Health and Welfare Committee at the National Assembly, said the KFDA enforces many non-binding recommended guidelines, under which the regulator cannot take any legal action to impose a ban on the production, import, or sale of hazardous products. In many cases, the KFDA instructed producers and distributors of harmful food items to voluntarily recall their products. But, most makers and sellers have not complied with such a voluntary recall. It is urgent for the regulator to take radical steps to ensure the health of consumers.